Why Organisational Gamification was Inevitable and Not a Fad

I believe that there are several factors which made Gamification of organisations inevitable.  It is often
criticised for being a fad.  I think that there are some aspects of it which could be.  For example, the dreaded ‘badges and leader boards’ definition of Gamification is unbelievably limiting and that aspect might be short-lived.  However, there are elements of Gamification which represent the larger economy, general opinion and the direction for organisations into the future.  It is something much deeper than superficial badges (although they have their merits too).  This is what Gamification should be understood as, what should be taken from games and it is happening right now.

First, the power of gaming as a medium is growing.  The ‘games cause violence’ pack is dwindling, just as it did for every new entertainment medium before (television, radio etc.).  Gamers are not geeky, social outcasts; everyone can be a gamer and many are.  Games are going mobile, casual and social.  Games are big business and on the rise.  If you are interested in the stats, get your fill from PWC here.  I am sure you are all aware of the huge success of Grand Theft Auto Five.  The game made $1 billion in the first three days of being sold.  The fastest film to reach the $1 billion mark was The Avengers, in 19 days.  Games are big news and it is inevitable that they would have an influence over other aspects of our lives.

Second, Gamification has evolved from 21st century organisational needs.  In some cases it has slipped in unnoticed, in other cases it as added an extra twist to an existing management trend.  There are ways that Gamification is relevant today, inevitable and not a fad and the points below show why this is the case and what organisations should be taking from games and translating into Gamification:

• Feedback – games allow constant feedback and Gamification can be used in this way.  This fits with other organisational trends, such as the breaking down of communication barriers across the organisation, at different levels.  It also allows the organisation to exert control and monitor, but in a constructive way that is more carrot than stick.  It also marries up with Generation Y’s need for constant feedback as they move into organisations (see ‘Motivating Generation X and Y with Gamfication’).
• Competition – games can promote competition, against others but also yourself.  Players are able to see feedback about how they performed and strive to better this performance.  This can be a powerful use of Gamification.  Businesses need to remain competitive.  Especially in a recession and when innovation and market dynamism are so powerful.  Encouraging competition within the workforce, giving employees more autonomy and allowing them to self-monitor can help this process along.  Gamification is therefore, a natural and fun progression of this.
• Teamwork – A lot of games and Gamification promote and facilitate teamwork.  There has been a huge move to making use of teams in organisations due to their self-management, innovation and so on.  Teams are a part of the ‘Japanisation’ of the Western organisation.  Gamification, therefore, can be seen as an extension of this, a means to promote collaboration and cooperation.
• Learning and Development – Organisations have come to appreciate the power of their human resources, especially in terms of their capacity for good ideas, creativity and innovation.  They, therefore, want their employees to be lifelong learners and to constantly develop their skills and expertise.  Organisations can no longer promise to offer a ‘job for life’, so they have moved to support employees’ employability.  Games require constant learning and development of skills and Gamification could be the next frontier for this in organisations.
• Creativity – Games are fantastic for generating creative problem-solving and innovative thinking.  They require it and reward it.  These skills are needed for 21st Century businesses to survive and thrive.  Therefore, Gamification should be used to reflect and encourage this.  See our post, '21st Century Skills and Games Based Learning'.
• Change and Flexibility – Games often require the player to be adaptable to change.  The current economic climate and dog eat dog nature of capitalism means that the business world is extremely chaotic and dynamic.  Employees and organisations need to be responsive, flexible and welcoming of change.  Gamification could be great at encouraging this outlook and culture amongst organisations.
• Fun – There is a move to make work more fun.  Organisations are now more aware of the benefits of a ‘carrot’ approach to motivation, as well as the creative benefits of having a fun office.  For example, Google offices have slides, scooters, lava lamps, pianos and so on, all designed to promote creativity, collaboration and innovation (as well as keeping people at work longer and feeling they owe the organisation).  Generation Y also work to fund their lifestyle as this is the most important motivator for them.  So organisations try to bring this ‘lifestyle’ into work.  They are motivated by something more than the money itself.  These things also represent youth and dynamism, which are championed by many organisations.  The Gamification of spaces and processes at work is probably the most apparent usage.

I study management and organisations, so this area as well as GBL and Gamification interest me greatly.  It strikes me that Gamification embodies many of the directions that management is taking in the 21st Century.  The fact that we now have a name for it doesn’t make it a fad.  The term Gamification has more scope than badges and leaderboards and many game-like elements have been translated into management.  Organisations might not see how games can help them yet.  But, with the growing strength and following of games as an entertainment and learning medium, I don’t think it will be too long until they catch on.  This could be just the beginning for Gamification.

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The Gamer Disposition and Education

The Gamer Disposition is a collection of five key attributes that gamers possess that make them great employees.  They were thought up by John Seely Brown and Douglas Thomas in 2008 and published in the Harvard Business Review.  The traits are not simply attitudes or beliefs but aspects of character and personality that players bring to game worlds and that game worlds reinforce.  Brown and Thomas argued that these traits make employees better suited to the 21st century workplace than non-gamers.

So what are the traits?

1. They are bottom-line oriented – gamers like being evaluated and their goal is not to be rewarded but to improve.
2. They understand the power of diversity – in online games, having a diverse make up of skills and expertise in a team is an asset and often a necessity.  Teamwork is very important.
3. They thrive on change – gamers expect change; they go beyond simply managing it and actively create it, thrive on it and seek it out.
4. They see learning as fun – for most gamers, overcoming obstacles is where the fun of a game lies.  Their reward is new knowledge and turning that knowledge into action.
5. They marinate on the “edge” – gamers are innovative, they think out of the box even when a simpler, more mundane way of doing something would suffice.  They explore the ‘edges’ to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the game.

The authors conclude, “Together, these five attributes make for employees who are flexible, resourceful, improvisational, eager for a quest, believers in meritocracy, and foes of bureaucracy.”

What could the education system take from this?

I imagine you can see where I am going with this.  If these traits make for great employees, perfectly suited to the 21st century workplace, should we not be doing more to help this process?  Many children will play games in their own time, however some won’t.  Games based learning in schools could be a safe, monitored and educational way of helping them develop these traits.  The belief that video games are bad for children (whether at home or in the classroom) is simply outdated and there are a myriad of skills that can be gained and developed through playing games.

The traits are also not simply useful for work either.  Being able to cope with and thrive on change, seeing learning as fun, appreciating the power of diversity, being innovative etc are all great traits for people to have in general.  They are important life skills that cannot easily be developed and practiced in such a fun way.  And there are plenty of other 21st Century Skills that games and games based learning can develop (see ‘21st Century Skills and Games Based Learning’).  For example, our educational products are designed to not only support the curriculum and develop subject-based knowledge, but to develop collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, systems thinking, strategic thinking and so on (see the games-ED tab above or visit our website).

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